Power Up

Power Up (Single Issues) #1-6

by Kate Leth, Matt Cummings (Illustrator)

Eons ago, it was prophesied...four distinguished champions would be chosen to lead the universe into a new age of strength and peace. They were expecting warriors; what they got was a little bit...different. Join Amie, an art student, Sandy, a single mom, Kevin, aging athlete and Silas...a goldfish?...as they learn to navigate Earth and each other as the most unanticipated powerful beings in the universe!

Created by New York Times-bestselling writer Kate Leth (ADVENTURE TIME, BRAVEST WARRIORS) and illustrator Matt Cummings (BATTLE DOG), POWER UP is a super team-up with a twist...and in the end, finding a family where you least expect it. 

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Fantasy, Young Adult, LGBT, Fiction, Superheroes

160 pages, Paperback

First published July 22, 2015

About the author

Kate Leth is a Canadian author and illustrator working in comics, animation, design, and feelings. A grown-up goth and pop culture devotee, Kate specializes in work for kids and teens. Their comics work includes Patsy Walker, A.K.A. Hellcat!; Girl Over Paris; Spell on Wheels; and Adventure Time, among others.

They live in Halifax, Nova Scotia with an absolutely ridiculous cat and several regrets. They are queer and genderfluid/non-binary, a fact that greatly influences their work. Kate uses they/them pronouns, but probably won’t correct you.

Reviews

[kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was utterly bizarre but enjoyably so. I instantly warmed to the diverse cast of characters. They made me smile a lot and their individual personalities were brilliant. I also adored the art style and colour scheme. I do wish there had been more depth and explanation into the actual plot, as I found myself a little lost at times but other than that, there’s not much I can complain about a story that features a tiny laser whale and a main character who gets called out for watching Netflix for eight hours straight, whilst wearing a penguin onesie with her sunglasses wearing pet hedgehog.

[Danika at The Lesbrary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this one! Fun, diverse, and intriguing. I'm looking forward to the next volume!

[laura (bbliophile) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so cute and so much fun and I want more

[Kathryn Kania · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kevin and Rowan are my OTP and also, ALSO?! I need more of this book.

[honeybean · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoy the way Silas and Kevin are written and depicted

[Zaz · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise was nice and I liked the characters, even if with the amount of them it was difficult to have time to know them a little. The story was packed with action and there were good ideas in design for the powers, enemies and heroes (with a welcome diversity!). My main problem was the fact that several times the story jumped right in the middle of the events, so it was complicated to follow what was happening and I'd to wait to have the "info dumping" (which wasn't really satisfying). I think I prefer more linear storylines, especially with the graphic novel format. The art was pleasant to look at and I'd fun with the outfits, hair styles, etc. It matched well the story and conveyed nicely the fights and the feelings the characters had to each others. Overall, it was an average read for me, but with things I appreciated a lot.

[Rob · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful, light, and adorable adventure with fantastic characters! Our 3 (4 if you count the goldfish) characters find themselves suddenly in possession of magical powers and are being hunted by beings from outer space that want said powers.

Seeing someone like Kevin as a hero in a graphic novel makes my heart sing. <3 Probably the closest thing to seeing myself reflected on a page I've ever seen.

[Tiny Octopus · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I L-O-V-E loooved the characters, the action was extremely choppy, to the point where I didn't know what was going on. The final issue in the series seemed to be the most put-together and thought out. The best thing about this book for me was all the gender-bending GLBTQ-friendly characters that represent actual urban life. This book really could have been perfect.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

A refreshingly modern take on the "random strangers get amazing powers" tradition, with a mix of influences from superhero comics to manga. I loved the diversity of the characters, who felt like real people to me: the former art student working retail, unmotivated ex-jock hipster, and cool mom (and... goldfish?) connect in a natural way over the challenges and responsibilities that come with their new abilities. The art is a bit confusing during action/fight scenes, but I liked that each of the main characters has their own body type, movement, and gestures that create interesting mis-matches with their heroic alter-egos. (Hipster bear becoming the "Sailor Moon" type of the group, and being very much into it, is my favorite twist on the standard formula.) Gets a bit clunky and "explain-y" at the end, but hopefully there's more of this series to explore the characters in more depth.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a fun, quick read, but nothing earth-shattering. It wasn't bad, but I had no strong feelings about it. I wasn't a huge fan of the art. To me, the bright solid colors and few lines looked awkwardly like blown up webcomic art on a physical page. (I actually wondered if it first ran as a webcomic, and I didn't know about it, since I'm terrible at keeping up with webcomics.) The book's strengths include the fact that the cast is diverse (different ages, genders, sexual orientations, occupations) with a positive message that, yes, everyone can save the world, even if they don't fit preconceived notions of heroes, and that we're all stronger together.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

You’d think I’d be over the trope of a ragtag group of unlikely heroes by now but NOPE! This is delightful.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh my cute!!! I loved this so much. It's definitely one of those comics that if I had more money I would buy so many extra copies so I could give them to my favorite people.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

"We're more powerful together." I was promised that this would be good. And it totally was. Some of the panels were a little busy and therefore hard to follow but a lot of fun.

[Kelleen (The Story Graph, try it. Stop giving Amazon your data. See link in my profile) · Rating 5 out of 5]

i really loved this book. it was a fun and light read that had characters who were interesting and cool and it was a fun take on super powers. the only negative was that sometimes the art, especially during battle scenes, was a bit confusing which made it hard to follow what was happening (which was usually explained in dialogue).

[Lin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the concept of the plot, but the art of each character clashed. It was like reading three different comics at once, and I didn't really dig it. It was distracting and made it difficult for me to fully enjoy it.

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

wanted to love this book, I really did. The premise was interesting. The art and characters were lovely. Everything was going well, but then it ended. That was the worst thing. This graphic novel felt instead like the first few chapters of a comic series, like a pilot episode to a TV show. It set everything up only to end and leave me feeling immensely disappointing. Everything just felt incomplete and even though I liked it, I felt like there was no point to it whatsoever. Ugh.

[Vee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was amazing. I really can't recommend it enough. It's a lighthearted but very well done read. It's so refreshing to see realistic but far from ordinary people in comic books. Kevin is such a golden gift to this world as is the rest of the cast.

[Lindsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was super cute even if I didn't understand the point behind the whole thing. Makes me consider getting a goldfish.

********
Panels Read Harder: Non-Big 2 superhero comic

[Vi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Delightful motley crew, but what the hell did I just get hit by?

[Lucille · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,5/5
The cutest!! I loved everything about it and devoured it :)

[AyyyDaria _Reads · Rating 1 out of 5]

Only thing I like about the book was it was diverse and Kevin and his wardrobe change. Otherwise I didn't really get what was going on.

[Mackenzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

If the author hadn't misspelled the word "whoa," it would have been 5 stars. "Woah" is not a word.

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw this once at a comic store, and resolved to read it at some point. Both the art and the story reminded me of Steven Universe , so it wasn't surprising to see that both the author and the illustrator had previous experience with lots of modern cartoons.

They updated superheroes in all the ways I love: making heroes out of people you wouldn't expect to be, but still keeping their personalities intact, having them react in natural ways, and keeping it funny. One of the heroes is a goldfish/laser whale, which was so cute and humorous to read.

There was also a diverse representation with the characters - multiple body types and races were shown, and none of the characters looked exactly the same. While I didn't shelve this as "lgbtq," since the same-sex couple is only part of the supporting cast, the book is friendly to gender-non-conforming ideas, which is seen with the treatment of a male character whose feminine outfit is treated positively within the plot.

I really hope Leth writes more issues of this series - it's a superhero story that really understands how to modernize classic tropes. Even if she doesn't, this is a great collection for anyone to read.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe 2.5 stars? Probably the 3 though.

I want to start this by saying I really like Kate Leth's work, which is why I picked this book up in the first place. I enjoyed this book but I felt like this volume never actually got us anywhere... it's odd because so much happened, but looking back I feel like nothing happened. It was a good set up, but it's missing it's own story.

I mean, I'm still going to read vol 2 - so I guess 3 stars as otherwise I wouldn't do that - but I wouldn't tell you you that you need to run out and buy it. If your library has it (like mine does on Hoopla) then that's a good option though...

[Trin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is lovely in spirit -- trope-subverting, diverse. I especially love the idea of the buff construction worker guy getting the Magical Girl powers. But I found the characters really two-dimensional -- more types than people -- and their relationships with each other didn't evolve in a deep and meaningful way. The book's not as funny as it needed to be, and the action sequences are muddled -- that classic comic book problem where you can't actually tell what's going on. Disappointing.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this one more than I did. I enjoyed the story, I liked the characters and I loved how Canadian it was but I felt like it wasn't well paced. It took too long for me to get a good feel for what was actually happening and before I knew it, it came to an abrupt halt, it was over and done. I was left feeling kinda like, "Huh? wait... was that it?" I liked all of the characters with the exception of Amie who didn't feel as fleshed out and was just annoying.
If there is more to this series, I'll read it, but I don't expect to love it.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kate Leth is one of my favorite comic writers, she's able to write fun weird stories with a real heart to them.
This has one of the most exposition filled issues of anything I've read, but that also means that the comedy book about a guy who magically gets a sailor scout outfit with no explanation gets the questions answered, which is more than I can say of other books.
This is a very fun book and it delivers an actual ending, which is ambiguous enough to lead to more story, which is great.
Also: laser whale.

[Whitney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute, lots of good genre and genre-busting bits. This first book was about establishing the characters, who are adorable, and the situation, which is familiar. Future books will show the strength of having these unique-in-this-format-but-common-in-the-real-world people in this common "unlikely heroes will rise" comic book scenario, or will show it to be superficial diversity. Looks good and promising so far. Dialogue and art are very charming, too!

[Anthony Gramuglia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute, adorable fluff. It's nothing too heavy or complicated. It isn't going to revolutionize the way you read comics. But it isn't really trying to. It's trying to capture a sort of adorable package of superhero action, and, in that regard, it succeeds.

If you have a Comixology account, it's worth it. I mean, you can get it there on Unlimited for free. But I don't know if it's something I will revisit time and time again. But I loved reading it, so that's something.

[Jenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun and entertaining parody of superheroes, magical girls, and alien invasions. And maybe sentei / Power Ranger team tropes. While it was a quick one-volume, you do get the gist of characters and it definitely leaves you wanting more. Or just more of the goldfish. That might’ve been my favorite character...

Adorable drawing style and bright coloring, if a bit confusing during the fight scenes. Sort of a younger Scott Pilgrim-type comic for tweens/teens and up?